THE NUMBER of property sales in Cyprus during May 2016 increased by 17 per cent compared with May 2015 according to the latest official figures published by the Department of Lands & Surveys.

The 17% increase in May follows a 35% increase in April and a 19% increase in March. Increased numbers of sales have been recorded for the last nine months.

May saw a total of 474 property sale contracts deposited at Land Registry offices across the island.

Although sales in Nicosia (the capital city) fell by 5%, compared to May 2015 they rose in all the other districts.

Sales in Larnaca rose by 51% to reach 103 compared to 68 in May 2015. Larnaca was followed by Paphos where sales increased by 26%, while sales in Famagusta and Limassol rose by 14% and 7% respectively.

Total Property Sale Transactions – 2015/2016 Comparison

District

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Nicosia

2015

46

45

83

88

86

61

60

37

65

64

60

54

2016

54

79

82

79

82

Famagusta

2015

16

27

17

17

21

33

45

14

30

29

33

42

2016

22

35

33

35

24

Larnaca

2015

90

71

98

67

68

111

95

75

85

87

111

114

2016

78

108

121

127

103

Limassol

2015

95

97

160

115

135

135

156

87

114

166

137

169

2016

92

179

197

166

145

Paphos

2015

74

85

94

94

95

124

140

88

91

117

105

134

2016

81

100

106

107

120

Totals

2015

321

325

452

381

405

464

496

301

385

463

446

513

2016

327

501

539

514

474

During the five months of 2016 sales have risen 25% to reach 2,355 compared with 1,844 during the first five months of 2015.

Property transfers

Efforts to reduce the Title Deed backlog continue, with the number of transfers during the first five months of 2016 reaching 5,454 compared with 4,605 during the first five months of 2015; an increase of 18%.

The declared price of the 5,454 transfers was €1.20 billion and the accepted price €1.33 billion, where the declared price is the sales price entered on the contract of sale and the accepted price is the Land Registry’s assessment of the market value of a property at its date of purchase.

In addition to transfers resulting from sales, the figures also include transfers to beneficiaries of Wills and gifts.